1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for positioning yarns. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for separating and gripping yarns from a fringe and positioning them for further processing. Most particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for separating previously woven yarns from a fringe and presenting them to an interlacer in an automated seaming machine which produces a woven join in industrial or papermaking fabrics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The papermaking industry commonly employs large woven fabric belts made of flat woven fabrics whose ends have been joined together to render them endless. Traditionally, this joining was accomplished by a manual or semi-automated weaving process that was both time consuming and labor intensive. Recently, the advantages of utilizing automated equipment to weave the joins which render flat woven fabrics endless have been recognized in the art.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,581,794 and 5,027,483, which are commonly assigned with the present invention to Asten Group, Inc., provide an apparatus for forming a woven join or seam between opposite ends of a woven fabric and an apparatus for selectively releasing yarns from a fringe which is utilized in conjunction with the seaming apparatus. Automated seaming machinery utilizing the technology disclosed in these patents has performed satisfactorily. However, some areas of automated join formation still present problems.
Due to the configuration, memory and crimp of certain yarns (or threads) utilized in papermaking fabrics, the yarns from the ends of the woven fabric are sometimes woven or joined into the seam in an orientation which is different than the yarn's original woven orientation in the fabric body. This problem has been traced to the manner in which the prior apparatus grips the yarns or threads and translates them to the joining area. The prior art does not provide any means to insure the proper orientation of the yarns as they are translated to the joining area and interwoven to form the join. When a join yarn is not in its original woven fabric orientation, it causes an incongruity in the woven join area. This must be corrected by the operator through the process of unweaving and reweaving the join with the yarns placed in the proper orientation. This problem can be more acute when yarns with non-circular cross-sections are utilized.